New to this
by airbolt
Summary: Will a meeting of minds lead to something else for Hiram?
1. Chapter 1

"Welcome to Grumman-Tech , Mr Hackenbacker . Please proceed to the Level five conference room as indicated on your AD "

Brains felt at home inside the high-tech atrium. All around were small knots of people in intense conversations , barely avoiding walking into each other. The " Big Push" was consuming this Corporation as well as any High-Tech Company with a horse in the race. No doubt there were similar scenes at Hitachi Heavy, Nordtech, Kyocera and Tsing Tao.

Once inside the conference room , Brains attention started to drift. The subject was old news , hyped by the corporation to get big Push contracts. He started to mentally arrange his schedule when he got back to the island – the Anti-Satellite spinner needed reviewing , Two needed a software update and there was a huge download from East-Tech to look at.

He didn't notice people . The Tracys knew him well enough to know that he liked to be a part of the team but separate. It often happened with people with high intellectual capacities that the social skills were limited. Brains ( he hardly thought of himself as Hiram ) accepted this but sometimes envied the easy affability within the family at meal times. As for romantic engagements ….

The conference was winding down. Brains was halfway to the Transport when he saw a familiar face.

Doctor Nguyen was all smiles as he bore down on him .

" Hackenbacker , you should have said. How did you find it?All old hat for you , eh?" he winked.

" Doctor Nguyen , ha-how are you?" Brains replied , thinking " Nothing life-threatening , I hope!"

"Fine , old chum" Nguyen continued , his affected Oxford accent grating " Look , I would love to shoot the Breeze but the higher-ups want me upstairs pronto. Perhaps my colleague could give you a quick tour? Ms Sabapathy , is that ok?"

"Yes , of course , I would be more than pleased" smiled Ms Sabapathy. Brains looked up and swallowed. Ms Sabapathy was , frankly , gorgeous.

" Raji Sabapathy , Mr Hackenbacker. Pleased to meet you" she said , brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Pah-pleased ah-also Miss…" stumbled Brains , pausing for an assault on the surname.

"That's all right , Mr Hackenbacker " she smiled " Everyone cocks my name up. What would you like to see first?"

Brains gulped.

To be continued


	2. Chapter 2

Tintin noticed something about Brains. He was almost talkative about his trip and especially about Ms Sabapathy. Of course , once Alan found out he just had to know more.

"So, Brains" he said with a grin" What's all this I hear?"

Brains looked up from his experiment.

"Wa-Whats that, Alan?" Brains was both irritated at the interruption and flustered at the question.

"You just get yourself a hottie and you don't tell me! They say it's always the quiet ones you have to watch". Alan was almost beside himself watching Brains' reaction.

"Ha-Hottie, Alan? W-What are you talking about?" Brains replied.

" A science hottie, Brains, from you're your last trip. I'm gonna hafta take lessons" Alan beamed.

"A-Alan, you h-have an over-active imagination linked to your libidinous nature" Brains finally got out.

"What?" said Alan.

"He means you think more about girls than you do about the core-flush you're due to do on Three!" Scott had walked into the lab unnoticed.

"Aww, I never get any fun" moaned Alan on his way out.

There was an awkward silence.

"Everyone knows?" asked Brains

"Hey, it's your business. I'll have a word with Alan" said Scott

Another pause while Brains came to a decision.

"I was about to leave Grumman when an old…colleague talked me into a tour of the facility. Raji..that's her name..took me around and we got to talking. It turns out she's into many of the experimental areas that I am" Brains had a quiet smile" She told me she was originally from Sri Lanka and her family got out just before…" he trailed off. Scott nodded.

"She studied at Oxford" continued Brains"then moved to Seattle to work at Grumman ".

"Are you going to meet up again?" asked Scott.

"Th-that's the thing you see, Scott. My schedule is so full I can't get back for two months" Brains replied, looking at his hands " She can h-hardly come here".

Scott tried to deflate the gloom " You got a picture?"

"On my AD" said Brains and handed over the pad.

Scott looked at the head-and-shoulders HR shot. Just the smile would be enough for most men, yet there was so much more. Her dark brown, almost black eyes radiated a fierce intelligence. Her oval face was framed by raven black hair , parted neatly in the center. It was up but Scott guessed it would be worn long off duty.

" S-She's quite pretty too" said Brains quietly examing his knuckle joints.

"Wow" thought Scott " It really is the quiet ones you have to watch"


	3. Chapter 3

Alan was eager for a look. He had heard Scott describe Brains' girlfriend as a "looker" but hadn't seen a pic yet. Scott grinned.

"You know that looks aren't everything" said Scott, mock-scolding. "Anyway, I'm sure that you'll see if Brains wants you to",

"Hahh, that's what Pa would say! You're turning into Pa, Scott" laughed Alan, trying to get a reaction. Scott was too seasoned.

They continued to the maintenance area for Three. Scott was there to provide a precis of Brains' inevitably over-detailed report. Jeff was an old-school astronaut, wanting the "Big Picture". Alan was cut from that cloth too. He needed to oversee the software mods though. The rescue on the "Ling Ma" showed up a weakness in the anti-detection routines.

As ever they approached Brains without him noticing. He was intent on the screen ahead of him. Alan tried out a new line.

"Why, Scott, isn't that the famous lothario that we've all heard so much about" he grinned. Scott winced.

"I am only f-following your example, A-Alan!" Brains shot back, laughing. When did he get the confidence to joust with Alan? " However, in my non-romeo capacity, I h-have fully updated the softcore. It's a fairly clunky algorhythm from East-Tech but I was able to work with it."

"So, no more E-int leakages then?" asked Scott. Alan was uncharacteristically quiet, perhaps unused to the changes in Brains.

"That's great, Brains" he offered, eventually " No point in giving away secrets, eh?" Alan winked as he said it. Subtlety was not his long suit. " Anyway, I'll leave you and Scott to the tech-fest. Tintin said something about a new costume from Macau. Venus, I think. Anyway, gotta check it out". Another wink to Scott as he walked away. Possibly the world's worst poker player.

"Nice work there" said Scott

"Thanks Scott" replied Brains " it was a fairly routine upgrade"

"I meant the backhand return to Alan" said Scott with a grin

"Oh, yes. I feel a lot more…alive lately" said Brains, with a rather faraway look in his eye.

"Oh yes?" Scott asked.

Brains flushed a little. "Oh, I th-think I know what you mean, Scott. Yes, I have quite diverted by my correspondence with Ms Sabapathy, er…Raji".

"Hey, not long before you can get out to Seattle again" Scott reminded him.

"That's right" replied Brains. As if he hadn't been counting the minutes. Over the past weeks he had been writing twice daily messages to Raji. Her replies were a mixture of hard science, in-jokes and, lately, a degree of flirting. He found that his natural reticence was swiftly overcome by her breezy messsages and he surprised himself at being able to open his heart to her. Scott was looking at him. He realised that he had drifted away.

"Happens to us all" Scott gave him a pat on the back and walked away. Just before leaving the room he turned and said " Nice job!".

With a wink.


	4. Chapter 4

"Nice view!" said Brains with genuine enthusiasm. His companion giggled and said "Why, Mr Hackenbacker, you really are an incorrigible flirt!".

"I-i – mah-meant the vah-view from the the Nah-Needle!" he stuttered. His face was nearly the color of Thunderbird Three. Raji laughed as she tucked a strand of her long ebony hair behind her right ear. There were very few other tourists on the observation deck of the Seattle Needle. Most opted for the HK Sphere these days. Brains was an admirer of old-school architecture though and really wanted to show Raji some of his favorite places. When Michael Rafferty at Nordheim invited him to assess the latest iteration of their nanoversion, Brains was only too keen to accept. After all, Vancouver was only a hop away from Seattle and Jeff couldn't object to a bit of relaxation afterwards.

Rafferty was one of Brains' few friends outside Tracy Island. While he could not match Brains' intellect he had a way of turning ideas into cold, hard cash. About once a year he offered Brains an obscene amount of money to come work alongside him at Nordheim. Once a year Brains quietly declined and thanked Rafferty for the offer.

"You're kinda quiet, Hiram" offered Rafferty after the assessment. The two men were in Rafferty's executive office overlooking the Nordheim Plant. Rafferty rattled the ice in his bourbon and grinned "Hey, I just figured it out. You either came up with a new theory on Isolinear morphography or you met a girl!. C'mon, which is it?"

Brains coughed and took a gulp of gatorade. "I'm that transparent am I?" he laughed, perfectly relaxed in Rafferty's company " Her name is Raji Sabapathy and she works at Grumman-Tech. Here's a pic"

"You really fly under the radar, man. I had you figured for a lab rat and you land a hottie!" Rafferty was genuinely pleased for his friend . It was way past time for the gentle and quiet man to find a bit of happiness." Wait just a minute tho. Grumman are in Seattle and….hey, I oughta be offended. This whole trip was just a front for your romantic assignation!"

"Well, it's not a romance as such but she really appears to be on the same wavelength as me. Quite rare." observed Brains.

"Plus she's a A-number one hottie, you old fox! What's your secret? I know …you give them the old shy techie routine then move in like Flynn!" laughed Rafferty , rocking back in his Lazee-Boy. The meeting continued amicably and all too soon Brains was on the private Nordheim shuttle to Seattle to meet Raji. She must have seen the Needle many times but acted like it was her first time. She couldn't help teasing him a little and watching his reaction.

"Fancy a bite, Hiram? I'm getting a bit peckish" she said. Brains looked puzzled. He wasn't too sure of some of her english expressions. but he guessed the meaning . She continued "There's a cracking trattoria about 5 blocks from here. The linguini is pukka. How's that sound?"

Mighty confusing, thought Brains. Pukka linguini must be one those new dishes that Lord Oliver kept flogging on T-Sat. There was a light rain falling as the couple ran from the tower to the taxi. This was Seattle though and it was coming down like cats and dogs on arrival at Romano. Nothing could dampen Brains' mood though. It didn't get any better than this.


End file.
